Vault of the Dracolich (D&D Next)

Deep in the forest of Cormanthor lies the hoard of the dracolich Dretchroyaster, the prize of which is a diamond staff rumored to unlock the secrets of an ancient elven kingdom. The sage Imani is seeking dozens of adventurers to launch an all-out assault on the undead dragon's lair. The dracolich is a powerful foe - too great for even several parties to conquer - so it's going to take all of the heroes' courage, cunning, and speed to survive the dracolich's deadly vault.

"Vault of the Dracolich" is a Dungeons & Dragons Roleplaying Game adventure designed for the June 2013 D&D Game Day. The challenge draws inspiration from the interactive format used at some gaming conventions.

The adventure includes one full-color, double-sided battle map.

*****

Product History

“Vault of the Dracolich” (2013) is a marvel. Designed for the June 2013 D&D Game Day, it's playable in two to five hours with D&D Next rules, and is built for four to six 4th-level heroes. The adventure is designed to accommodate up to four tables playing the game at once; in a convention scenario, players and DMs have the option of communicating with other game tables, while the event coordinator takes on the role of the dracolich to menace each group.

Sound unusual? It is, and it's tremendously fun.

Together, Yet Separate. In order to have up to four different tables playing this adventure simultaneously, each group of adventurers enters the dungeon in a different location. There are four different areas an adventuring group can use for access. The heroes must find idols that give them access, conquer the local monsters and guardians, all while assiduously avoiding the dracolich as it pursues intruders. It's an unusual and innovative approach to adventuring.

How's it work? Judging by post-game-day reports? Superbly. The convention organizer moves about, threatening adventurers when the dracolich tracks them down; tables briefly come together and then separate, exchanging resources and coordinating plans; and, in the role of the sage who organized the assault, offering limited advice.

Interestingly, the scenario works equally well as a single-party experience, although some of the novelty is lost. But this is how most groups at home will experience the adventure, I expect. There's some comfort in that the adventure is stated to be lethal; should a group fall, their new heroes can come in from a different approach.

Multiple Approaches. Not only are there multiple ways to close in on the dracolich's central lair in the heart of the underground complex, but there are also a variety of strategies that the heroes can use to get there. Groups that rely solely on one strategy, whether sneakiness or smacking monsters, will probably have some difficulty. The adventure is exceptionally well-designed, and various creative approaches are required for PCs to move through the complex safely. Enemies may be defeated, fooled, or co-opted with role-playing; regardless, it will take canny and aware players to succeed.

The adventure is also notable because it's no longer just the DMs who get the awesome maps. “Vault of the Dracolich” includes a beautiful player map that lacks only details that the DM alone should know about. With luck, it helps the heroes know exactly which way to run when they need to fall back, charge forward, or make a final stand.

This adventure is a showcase for the fast-paced, fun style of play that D&D Next can offer. The feel is quite different from the one-encounter-per-game experience of the D&D Encounters sessions of recent years. If you want a taste of an accessible and exciting introductory adventure that doesn't skimp on danger – or if you just want to see how D&D Next is shaping up – then you'll want to pick this up.

About the Creators. Mike Shea is a writer and game designer who runs Sly Flourish, a website and Twitter feed dedicated to building better D&D 4th edition DMs. He has written three books on Dungeons and Dragons: Sly Flourish's Dungeon Master Tips, The Lazy Dungeon Master, and Running Epic Tier D&D Games. He also writes freelance Dungeons and Dragons articles for Wizards of the Coast and is the author of a few other books, including Seven Swords and Vrenna and the Red Stone and Other Tales.

Scott Fitzgerald Gray is a writer, screenwriter, editor, story editor, script consultant, writing teacher, and designer and editor of roleplaying games. You can find his work at insaneangel.com.

As an organized play administrator and the author and game designer of multiple adventures, Teos Abadia is a freelancer for Wizards of the Coast who also happens to have one of the coolest names in gaming. You'll find him on Twitter at @alphastream.

About the Product Historian

History and commentary of this product was written by Kevin Kulp, game designer and admin of the independent D&D fansite ENWorld. Please feel free to mail corrections, comments, and additions to kevin.kulp@gmail.com.

Hello, can someone please tell me what files you get when purchasing this PDF? From my understanding, this was part of the D&D Next playtest materials, and you need more than the actual book to run it properly. Does this purchase come complete with everything needed to run the adventure?

I see there is mixed comments regarding this. Some people say it is complete, others say it's not. Can we get a definitive answer on this please?

Thanks

Jeff HNovember 29, 2014 7:06 pm UTC

PURCHASER

Hey Dave J,

When I bought this I got:
(DDN_VaultDracolich_Map.pdf)
(DDN_VaultDracolich_Player_Map.pdf)
(DDN_VaultDracolich.pdf)
(Scourge_of_the_Sword_Coast_Interim_Rules_Supplement.zip)

The Scourge of the Sword Coast Interim Rules Supplement is, I believe, the last DnDNext rules that were released before 5e came out and it came with the download.

Hope this helps you,
Jeff

Mark PSeptember 16, 2014 4:24 am UTC

My group liked it. Interesting encounters with the crazy ent and the fearful lizardman outcast. The fake dracolich's kept it entertaining. The captured drow that joined the party was good but he ran off too soon.

We just made up our own stats or looked them up in the play test packet. No worries.

Pros: Short and sweet. Interesting magic items. Fun role-play opportunities with the different factions such as trogledytes and lizardmen and cultists. It was fun to have multiple tables running and working together. Characters dying and being regenerated with undead empathy was great!

Cons: Getting enough players to do the multi party attack was hard and not realistic. Had to modify that. Some of the creatures could have used more fleshing out - such as the cultists leader. A more difficult puzzle with using the idols to defeat the dracolich should have been used. Dracolich was a bit easy and needed to be beefed up.

Overall - 4 1/2 stars.

Zach CSeptember 13, 2014 10:50 am UTC

PURCHASER

Can't open the pdf files. Anyone else having this issue? It's telling me they're corrupted and re downloading the files nets the same results.

Jeff HSeptember 08, 2014 6:05 am UTC

PURCHASER

So Eric L on Aug 24 2014 (as well as Jon and Ken) say there are no monster stats, but Teos A says this file contains the "final open playtest rules (which includes monster statistics and all rules needed to run DnD Next)" like 4 months earlier. Can someone please confirm whether this product for sale on this site actually HAS the playtest rules and the monster stats included with it (and not a link to a no longer available playtest download) or not, please? Thanks, Jeff

Eric LAugust 24, 2014 12:32 pm UTC

PURCHASER

No bestiary or level 4 pre-gens. And I paid $5 for this? Epic Fail!!

Jon BAugust 02, 2014 8:33 pm UTC

PURCHASER

Agreed with Ken B. - there are no monster stats. It is assumed you have the bestiary from some previous playtest, but if you don't, you're out of luck.

Ken BJune 21, 2014 8:25 am UTC

PURCHASER

Do not buy this until the new Monsters Manual is released later this year. Total waste of money to buy it now. The lack of level 4 pre-gens is bad enough, but at least you have the rules to level the level 1 characters up. But this module contains none of the monster stats, and the playtest info included with the download does not contain the bestiary doc. So it's impossible to run this adventure a it is sold.

Dean SFebruary 16, 2014 10:49 pm UTC

PURCHASER

I "cut my DM/GM teeth" running adventures set in Forgotten Realms (either my own creation or published material) and I started out with 2nd Edition. And as much as I adore Paizo's Pathfinder RPG (and their world Golarion) this really makes me nostalgic for Faerun. Other things I'm hearing also are making me really consider giving D&D Next (or as I hear it's being called ... "Dungeons & Dragons" ... a try. At $4.99 for a PDF ... I don't think I can go wrong!

Vladimir OJanuary 19, 2014 8:39 pm UTC

Does this product contain the maps and the additional information needed to play the adventure?

Sean DJanuary 31, 2014 11:38 am UTC

If it follows the copy I got for Game Day, you get one double-sided map. One side is the site of the climactic battle, and the other is a map of the entire complex. It includes no bestiary, as that was released as part of the D&D next playtest packet, which is no longer available for download. You'll need to see if someone that has it will let you get a copy (which is against the playtest agreement), or wait until Next (whatever it is to be named) is released this summer.

Unfortunately, I haven't bought the PDF here (as I have the actual book from Game Day), so I can't speak to whether or not WotC decided to include the bestiary as well.

Teos AMay 06, 2014 5:11 pm UTC

PURCHASER

The product contains the Map in gorgeous color and high-res, the close-up map for the final battle, the player map handout, the adventure, and a copy of the final open playtest rules (which includes monster statistics and all rules needed to run DnD Next).

Ramanan SNovember 07, 2013 9:42 pm UTC

I played it on game day and had a lot of fun: http://save.vs.totalpartykill.ca/blog/dd-game-day-2013/

Barry FOctober 28, 2013 11:31 pm UTC

PURCHASER

Really fun adventure, ran it for our group.

be aware that the module does not contain stats for the second in command boss, nor does the bestiary file for the adventure on wizards.com. really ground play to a halt.

Sean DJanuary 31, 2014 11:32 am UTC

If you mean Silakul, page 8 (at least in the hard copy) says to use the stats for the Dark Priest, with the benefit of his idol.

This is the best piece of work released by the D&D crew in the last 4 years. only the Neverwinter material comes close. you get a great villian, a great map. decent descriptions and the ability to enter from multiple directions. you could have multiple [...]

I agree with Alexander L's review about the content. I gave it five stars because the main reason he down graded it was the assumption that because the DnDNext playtest is over that the playtesting download is not accessible. His assumption is false. [...]

Originally posted at: http://diehardgamefan.com/2013/10/29/tabletop-review-dd-next-vault-of-the-dracolich-dungeons-dragons/ Vault of the Dracolich is a noteworthy adventure for many reasons. It’s the first ever Game Day adventure to be released for [...]

These products were created by scanning an original printed edition. Most older books are in scanned image format because original digital layout files never existed or were no longer available from the publisher.

For PDF download editions, each page has been run through Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software to attempt to decipher the printed text. The result of this OCR process is placed invisibly behind the picture of each scanned page, to allow for text searching. However, any text in a given book set on a graphical background or in handwritten fonts would most likely not be picked up by the OCR software, and is therefore not searchable. Also, a few larger books may be resampled to fit into the system, and may not have this searchable text background.

For printed books, we have performed high-resolution scans of an original hardcopy of the book. We essentially digitally re-master the book. Unfortunately, the resulting quality of these books is not as high. It's the problem of making a copy of a copy. The text is fine for reading, but illustration work starts to run dark, pixellating and/or losing shades of grey. Moiré patterns may develop in photos. We mark clearly which print titles come from scanned image books so that you can make an informed purchase decision about the quality of what you will receive.

Original electronic format

These ebooks were created from the original electronic layout files, and therefore are fully text searchable. Also, their file size tends to be smaller than scanned image books. Most newer books are in the original electronic format. Both download and print editions of such books should be high quality.

File Information

Watermarked PDF

Adobe DRM-protected PDF

These eBooks are protected by Adobe's Digital Rights Management (DRM) technology. To use them, you must activate your Adobe Reader software. Click here for more details.

Watermarked PDF

These eBooks are digitally watermarked to signify that you are the owner. A small message is added to the bottom of each page of the document containing your name and the order number of your eBook purchase.

Warning: If any books bearing your information are found being distributed illegally, then your account will be suspended and legal action may be taken against you.